'Bear' Lincoln Acquitted in Racist Frame-Up Murder Trial id PAA25557; Sat, 4 Oct 1997 15:04:56 -0400 Via NY Transfer News Collective * All the News that Doesn't Fit ------------------------- Via Workers World News Service Reprinted from the October 9, 1997 issue of Workers World newspaper ------------------------- ALL-WHITE JURY REJECTS RACIST FRAME-UP: 'BEAR' LINCOLN ACQUITTED IN MURDER TRIAL By Richard Becker San Francisco After hearing evidence that this case was nothing but another frame-up of a Native person, an all-white jury in Mendocino County, Calif., did the unexpected on Sept. 23. They acquitted Eugene "Bear" Lincoln, a Wailaki Indian from northern California, of murder charges. His many supporters celebrated after Lincoln was found not guilty on four murder and other capital charges, each of which carried the death penalty. Lincoln had been charged with the murder of a Mendocino County sheriff's deputy, Robert Davis, in April 1995. The same jury deadlocked on related charges of voluntary and involuntary manslaughter, voting 10 to two for acquittal. Several hours after the verdict, Lincoln was released on $50,000 bail to a weeping, celebrating crowd of family, friends and supporters outside the Mendocino County Courthouse in Ukiah, Calif. The area has a long history of extreme anti-Indian racism and genocide dating back to the 1850s Gold Rush era. Lincoln had been the target of a racist nationwide frame- up. He was branded a "cop killer" in an episode of the TV show "America's Most Wanted." California's right-wing Gov. Pete Wilson offered a $100,000 reward for Lincoln's capture. The cops were reported to have given "shoot to kill" orders. But when the case came to trial, Lincoln's lead attorney, Tony Serra, demonstrated that the state had no evidence. The only eyewitness for the prosecution was another sheriff's deputy named Miller--who changed his original story to fit new facts as they became known. On the night of April 14, 1995, Mendocino deputies had set up a stake-out on the Round Valley reservation, about 175 miles north of San Francisco. Earlier in the day in the reservation town of Covelo, there had been a shooting following a dispute. The cops were looking for Arylis Peters, the accused in the shooting. His brother, Leonard Peters, and his close friend, Bear Lincoln, were also wanted. As Leonard Peters and Lincoln came over a small ridge in the dark, the deputies opened fire, killing Leonard Peters immediately. Bear Lincoln fired back in self-defense. Then he fled with the deputies, firing wildly, in pursuit. Deputy Davis was shot and killed--but when and by whom remained in question. Deputy Miller first claimed that he saw only one person, Leonard Peters, and that Peters had fired first. The deputies fired back, according to Miller, fatally wounding Peters. Then, according to Miller's initial account, Lincoln hid in the brush and killed Davis as he crouched over Peters' body. MILLER'S STORY CHANGED Miller had to "amend" this story when forensic tests a few days later showed that Peters' rifle had not been fired. Miller then "remembered" a second shooter, Bear Lincoln. Lincoln's attorneys, Tony Serra and Phil De Jong, shredded Miller's credibility. They argued that the cops had set up the ambush, killed Leonard Peters, and then sought to finish off Bear Lincoln to cover their own crime. For weeks after April 14, the Round Valley reservation was subject to a reign of police terror. Local residents said in a news release at the time that the police "roughed up our elders and put guns to our children's heads." Despite the massive police dragnet, Bear Lincoln escaped. He lived underground for the next four months. He then turned himself in--not in Mendocino County where he feared for his life, but in Serra's San Francisco office. He was held without bail for the next two years in the Mendocino County jail. After his acquittal, Lincoln said: "I knew I would be found not guilty. That's why I turned myself in." Immediately after the verdict, Assistant District Attorney Aaron Williams announced that the state would seek a retrial on the two manslaughter charges and on four gun-possession charges. These could subject Lincoln, who had a felony conviction in 1977, to the possibility of a life sentence under California's reactionary "three strikes" law. However, on Sept. 29, the county district attorney announced that the gun charges were being dropped. Retrial is still scheduled on the two manslaughter counts. Considered one of the most significant trials in Northern California's history, Bear Lincoln's case had generated strong support within the Native community and among other progressives in the area. Responding to the verdict, Cora Lee Simmons, founder of Round Valley Indians for Justice, said: "My people have to fight for everything they get. When does it end?" The Mendocino Environmental Information Center, across the street from the courthouse, served as a key organizing base for Lincoln supporters. A campaign to drop the remaining charges against Bear Lincoln is continuing. - END - (Copyright Workers World Service: Permission to reprint granted if source is cited. For more information contact Workers World, 55 W. 17 St., NY, NY 10011; via e-mail: ww@workers.org. For subscription info send message to: info@workers.org. 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